It is common nowadays to see that automatic washers have at least one dispenser for additives, such as detergent, bleach, softener, among others.
When the dispensing of additives is automatic, the user may place the additives into their own compartments, and by means of the dispenser controller they are activated at a determined time, during the washing cycle, to dispense the additive within the container for the treatment of the garments.
It is well known to dilute the additives to be dispensed with water to achieve uniform distribution of the additives within the tub or basket, whichever the case may be, instead of becoming concentrated in a single area of the container.
Additionally, depending on the geometry of the deposit of the dispenser, and of the water supply device, problems can arise, such as: agglomerations of the powdered additives due to the formation of large lumps of additive in such a way that they are too large to accomplish passing through the dispenser which generally has a groove like shape or they are too wide; another of the problems is when low dilution between the water mixture and the additive exists causing part of the additive to remain floating on the upper part of the supplied water flow, thus impeding it from exiting the dispenser; it has also been found that a significant amount of the additive is sometimes pushed to the ends or another deposit area of the dispenser where it remains as a residue, while the flow of diluted water with the remaining additive exits the dispenser; or simply overflow of the additive occurs given the excess of supply of the same by the user given that the dispenser does not have a maximum amount indicator of the amount to be placed, or overflow due to poor control of the supplied water pressure.
With the passage of time and use of the washing machine, any of the problems such as agglomeration, lack of dilution, residues or overflow can get to the point of reducing functionality of the dispenser, in addition to being aesthetically displeasing to the user.
The different documents which can be found in current literature related to additive dispensers, if they do address the above related questions, have not been able to successfully tackle them, as does present invention.
Among the various efforts which have been undertaken in the field of detergent dispensers, we highlight patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,554 from 1986, where Carl E. Eichman et al makes reference to a granular additive dispenser which includes a separate recipient which can be inserted in order to dispense liquid detergent which makes it different than the additive dispenser of the present invention, which can function both for liquid as well as granulated detergent without using extra additions; in said patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,554, the water is supplied to the deposit in conventional manner where through a horizontal channel implemented solely as a means for the exit of the additive, discharges it directly into the tub, which can cause damage to the garments to be treated through direct chemical attack on the textile surface in such a manner, that given this, the additive dispenser of the present invention carries out the additive discharge between the tub and the basket thus avoiding direct contact with the garments to be washed; additionally, Carl E. Eichman in the same patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,554 discloses in his dispenser downwardly inclined walls from the water supply entrance to the additive exit towards the tub, which for the purpose of efficiency in the sweeping and dispensing of the residues, said walls could be insufficient.
Another relevant document to be analyzed is document 20050144737 A1 US from 2005, where Jon Arthur Roepke et al references a system for dispensing additives to a washing machine which includes a removable deposit coupled to the main lid of the washing machine, where by means of a water valve connected to the deposit and a controller, water is introduced into the deposit to dilute the additive and dispense the diluted additive between the tub and the basket at a predetermined time; the advantage of counting with a removable dispenser for purposes of efficiency of dispensation results null, given that the residue problems arise during the washing cycle, not prior to or post the washing cycle, in addition to running the risk of misplacement, given the above, the additive dispenser of present invention is found fixed unto the front part, mechanically connected on the inner part to the main lid of the washing machine.
Another interesting document is US 20050229645 A1 by Jon Min Kim et al. This references an additive dispenser which is characterized by counting with a deposit, an upper cover lid and a lower cover lid, where the lower cover lid has a first water supply channel; afterwards a second channel is located which diverts the water from the first channel and supplies water to the additive deposit, both channels are connected by means of an auxiliary channel; afterwards the water is discharged to the deposit through a plurality of holes found along the length of the channels, where the next step is the diluted additive being released into the tub by means of a bellow; among the disadvantages which can be listed for document US 20050229645 A1, which even the author himself mentions, are the reduction of water flow pressure at the end of the channel opposite to the water entrance, which in present invention is solved thanks to the pressure regulator which has been included at the entrance of the additive dispenser; another disadvantage of Jong Min Kim's et al document is dispensation in such a direct manner into the tub as opposed to present invention, whose releasing of additives occurs between the tub and the basket.
It should also be mentioned that in 2005, Marcus Zsambeki in patent document number US 20050188730 A1 references an additive dispenser for a washing machine which comprises a box in the shape of an indentation and a sliding drawer set with a plurality of separated compartments for containing additives for washing or rinsing which have some entrances in the back part and through which water is supplied towards the compartment through one of the ends of the dispenser where additionally the dispenser has a channel to direct the entering water flow towards the lower part and towards the outside of the sliding drawer with the aspect of sweeping along with the residues; as opposed to the present invention, patent document number US 20050188730 A1 is only concerned with sweeping the residues which remain under and outside the deposit and ignore the residues which remain within the deposit itself; in addition to undertaking the releasing of detergent within the tub which can cause damages to the garments to be washed as was previously mentioned.
Now then, in 2007 Lonnie Joe Richman et al in patent document U.S. Pat. No. 7,900,486 references an additive dispenser which includes a housing made up of a collector which the water supply reaches, and a compartment where the additive is deposited. The water supplied into the collector is transported to the additive compartment through a set of holes found along the length of the wall which divides the collector from the compartment, where the mixing of the water and the additive is ejected by means of a siphon system and discharged between the tub and the basket; said holes rather than being useful for the releasing of the additive, can get to be a problem given that, as was previously mentioned, the exits or openings in the shape of grooves which are too narrow, can become obstructed given the additive agglomerations, which renders the dispenser inefficient; given the latter, present invention has avoided reduced spaces which run the risk of agglomerations or obstructions.
Now then, present invention proposes a configuration for an additive dispenser which has resulted in being highly effective for preventing or resolving the difficulties present in the dispensation as was detailed in the above mentioned documents, as well as other which commonly arise in dispensers.